I've been lucky enough for the past year and a half to have one of our upstairs bedrooms be my designated craft room/office space. My older two boys decided to share a room and I eagerly took over the unused space to create my own little girly section of the house.
And while I post pictures of it here looking like this:
So where am I going with all this?
The move.
Coming up. Soon.
The new place is about 1000 square feet smaller than our current house which is not too much of a big deal because we don't really utilize all the space in our current home-we bought it so we could grow into it as our boys grew up.
The new place is a townhouse with three floors. The lower level houses a garage and family room that opens to a small fenced yard (Those two things were a HUGE score for us-a garage so I can park inside and store my tools and a yard for the kids and dog! It's also in a great school zone so we lucked out!) The second floor is an open concept area with a kitchen, living room, dining room, and sitting room. The third floor has three bedrooms and while I considered shoving all of my kids into one room, my youngest isn't going to be old enough yet to share a room with his brothers and not disturb them at night so there's definitely NOT an area for me to designate my office or craft space up on the third floor.
The only real place I can see using as my office is the small portion of the second floor they have designated as a "sitting room" on the floor plan. (Can you believe we haven't seen it in person yet-we're going to go look at it soon but the rental market up there is insane and we had to move fast so we rented it based off pics of a model and floor plan!) So my dilemma is how in the world am I going to contain my chaos creativity in plain site of the living areas of the house (and my super organized neat-freak in a good way of course husband!!)
So what will stay in the new office and what will need to be brought in to contain the mayhem? I really, really, really want to keep my desk...I love it, got a great deal on it from a neighbor and updated the paint and hardware. it has great storage and is pretty darn good looking if I do say so myself so I think it should stay.
What will need to go?
Where is your crafting area in your home? Do you have any amazing craft areas/offices I should see for inspiration! Let me know in the comments!
Kristen @ Down Home Inspiration says
I can't wait to see what you come up with, I know that it will be amazing!
Melissa Riker says
Thanks Kristen!! You'll have to come over and help me purge my craft crap!
cassie says
i have got to reorganize all of mine!!! one day. too much crapft.
Melissa Riker says
I'm totally dreading the purge I'm going to have to do in the coming weeks Cassie! It's going to be brutal to go through all that "crapft!"
keri @ shaken together says
We have a room in our converted garage that was my craft room, but it is so removed from our house that I really don't feel all that creative in it. It is currently in the process of being cleaned out and turned into a guest room/man cave. SO, all of my crap, I mean craft stuff is being housed in a big ol' hutch I found on Craigslist. Can't wait to see your creative solutions!
Melissa Riker says
I'm hoping I'll craft better with my craft room with the open if I can just get the right organizing strategy...right now it's hard for me to get to that separate area to do anything because of my 23 year old being home with me all day (and his propensity to trash my craft room within minutes if he gets in there!) I'm thinking either high storage or locking storage would be a great idea for me so he can't get into my things but I could craft while hanging out with the family!
Amanda Traywick says
I am currently facing the same dilemma. Moving soon, will have no dedicated room for crafting, deciding how to downsize. I'm digging the hutch/armoire idea myself. Can't wait to see what you do 🙂
Melissa Riker says
Make sure to keep me updated on your progress Amanda! We'll be moving mid-May so I'm sure I'll be posting my progress soon after that!
Iris says
Mine is in the corner of the master bedroom, which isn't that big and has a window on one wall and a sliding door on the other....I haven't gotten it right yet, partly due to the $$ thing. The one thing I have done that has worked really well is buy a bunch of those paper "bankers boxes" to store things in the master closet. I paint them or mod podge scrapbook paper on them ...Some have projects in them some have supplies....
Melissa Riker says
Great idea to store things in closets! We're going to check out the new house soon so I'll be taking stock of how much storage space it has and hopefully it's a lot so I can have room to store my infrequently used supplies and seasonal decor!
Gabi says
I was lucky to have my husband build me a craft room a few years ago. Before that, I hid my stuff everywhere! Under side table tablecloths (#3), a cute multidrawer chest (I got at a yard sale), Large baskets with lids. Well, you get the drift. When the craft room was finally finished, we went to IKEA, and bought several of their Expedit bookcases and I used their cardboard storage boxes (you get 2 in a pack for~ $16 for the large:they also have smaller sizes) in white. They have cute metal edges and a place for a label. I filled the cubicles with them and also used some baskets to add interest. Done-neat and tidy! Their biggest bookcase fits a wall and that is the size I used. I also got a cabinet with 2 doors (3 shelves) and a bottom slide out drawer used for storing files. I hope that you'll be able to find exactly what you are looking for! I'm so glad that I did!
Melissa Riker says
Thanks for the ideas Gabi! There's an IKEA near our new house so I've been scouring their website for ideas for the new office!
Cheryl Jasso says
Screens! Either purchased or homemade. If homemade, you can add shelves, if you wish, or hooks, or lighting, extra electrical cords, etc., and match it to your décor. Think of two white doors hinged together to open as far as you want...this makes a kind of wall space, and blocks the view of the clutter from the opposite side. I had a house with the water heater and central heater in the laundry room and It was ugly, but I successfully created a screen to block it off but still let air circulate. Amazing things can be done with folding screens.
Melissa Riker says
Great ideas Cheryl! I actually have a nice Japanese screen my grandparents bought when they were stationed in Okinawa in the 60s, maybe that would be the perfect use! Thanks for helping me with ideas!!
Jessi @ Practically Functional says
Oh I love that rolling cart idea for Silhouette stuff! I'm gonna look for a cart that will fit my stuff, that's totally brilliant! Pinning!
Melissa Riker says
Thanks Jessi!
Christy @ Our Southern Home says
Love these ideas! I want that Silhouette cart! Awesome idea! ~Christy
Melissa Riker says
Thanks Christy!!
Vanessa says
I use to have a craft studio attached to garage in my back yard but then my mom moved in with us (which I totally adore!) and I moved everything to a table in our pantry. That was a couple years ago and I'm still trying to figure out ways to organize my crap. I'm totally looking forward to all the great ideas I'm sure you'll have!
Julie says
There are 5 of us in a 3 bedroom mid terrace house (do you even have mid terrace's where you are? In towns/cities in the Uk it's what most housing is) so no craft room for me boo hoo! My stuff is in boxes in various places round the house and shoved behind the sofa. When I am in crafty mode with my stuff spread all over the table we eat off trays! My hubbie is studying at the moment for a MBA whilst working full time so he has first dibs on the table and has 2 laptops and piles of books and papers spread out on it and I have my sewing machine perched on the very end!
I love the idea of a cabinet, I really could do with introducing some organisation. Perhaps I need to start a pinterest board of ideas, starting with your trolley!
Melissa Riker says
Thanks Julie! Pinterest is my go-to tool for brainstorming when I have design problems! It helps me narrow down options and see trends to what I like over time. 🙂
Cheryl@ Sew Can Do says
That desk is really fab. You may want to check out my small space craft room tour: https://www.sewcando.com/2014/03/making-dream-craft-room-in-small-space.html. I have a limited area to work in myself and got a few key pieces to maximize my storage space & used some simple tricks to organize & hide the insane amount of stuff/clutter I have.
Kim {Pinspired Home} says
I was so excited to see how you stored your craft stuff without a craft room, as I don't have a craft space either. I guess I'll have to stick around and wait for the reveal! 🙂
Found you at Tip Junkie.